Multiple simultaneous wireless connections in a wireless local area network

ABSTRACT

Multiple simultaneous associations with Wireless Access Points (WAPs) may be formed by a given wireless client to enable handoffs between the WAPs to be accelerated and, optionally, to enable both WAPs to provide simultaneous wireless services to the wireless client. Upon forming a primary association with one WAP the wireless client scans for beacon signals from other WAPs. Upon detecting another WAP, the wireless client transmits a Request To Send (RTS) message to the new WAP indicating the identity of the primary WAP. The wireless client may also identify the new WAP to the primary WAP using a RTS message. The primary and secondary WAPs exchange information so that, in the event of a handoff, the required information has already been shared with the new WAP. Optionally, the several WAPs may provide simultaneous service to the wireless client.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to communication networks and, moreparticularly, to a method and apparatus for supporting multiplesimultaneous wireless connections in a wireless local area network.

2. Description of the Related Art

Data communication networks may include various computers, servers,nodes, routers, switches, bridges, hubs, proxies, and other networkdevices coupled to and configured to pass data to one another. Thesedevices will be referred to herein as “network elements.” Data iscommunicated through the data communication network by passing protocoldata units, such as Internet Protocol packets, Ethernet Frames, datacells, segments, or other logical associations of bits/bytes of data,between the network elements by utilizing one or more communicationlinks between the devices. A particular protocol data unit may behandled by multiple network elements and cross multiple communicationlinks as it travels between its source and its destination over thenetwork.

In a typical wireless network, wireless access points provide wirelessaccess to wireless clients. Wireless networks rely on the propagation ofwireless signals which may be affected by numerous environmentalfactors. For example, changing environmental conditions and theactivities of adjacent wireless access points can affect the reach ofthe signal and the bandwidth available over a channel on the wirelesssignal. Especially in ad-hoc networks, where the placement of wirelessaccess points is not extensively planned and may not be extensivelycentrally managed, and where the wireless access points themselves mightbe mobile, the signal characteristics may vary considerably from placeto place and temporally within the same place.

Conventionally, wireless standards generally require a wireless clientto be associated with no more than one wireless access point. Thus, awireless client will associate with a given wireless access point andcommunicate through that wireless access point until signalcharacteristics deteriorate to the point where the wireless client isrequired to search for a new access point on the network. The wirelessclient will then scan the signal channels to find the next availablewireless access point and make a new association with the selectedwireless access point.

For example, when a wireless client is required to handoff to anotherprimary wireless access point, the wireless client may scan a beacon(output by the wireless access points) to find an adjacent wirelessaccess point that has a relatively strong signal. Any number of methodsmay be used to select an available wireless access point. The wirelessLAN client will then try to send an association request andauthentication request towards the new primary wireless access point.Upon receipt of a reply from the new wireless access point that theassociation and authentication has been accepted, the wireless LANclient will initiate a Request To Send (RTS) message to the newassociated wireless access point. Once the wireless access point has thecapacity to allocate bandwidth to this specific request, a Clear To Send(CTS) message is sent back to the requesting wireless client indicatingthat the wireless client is clear to start communicating through thewireless access point.

Unfortunately, the handoff process may take up to or in excess of 100 mswhich, for real time applications such as audio and video transmissionsand certain other data applications, may exceed acceptable limits.Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a faster mechanism forfacilitating hand-offs in a wireless local area network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention overcomes these and other drawbacks by providing amethod and apparatus for supporting multiple simultaneous wirelessconnections in a wireless local area network. According to an embodimentof the invention, a wireless client is configured to associatesimultaneously with multiple wireless access points to enable fasthandoffs to be performed and, optionally, to enable faster wirelessservice to be provided to the wireless client from the multiple wirelessaccess points. Information related to the connections, sessions, andflows, may be exchanged between the wireless access points so that, uponhandoff from one wireless access point to the second wireless accesspoint, continuity may be maintained. Optionally, multiple access pointsmay be designated as primary wireless access points for different flows,sessions, or for particular types of communications. Designating severalwireless access points as primary wireless access points enables data tobe passed to the wireless client from several locations on the networkthus increasing the data throughput to the wireless client.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present invention are pointed out with particularity inthe appended claims. The present invention is illustrated by way ofexample in the following drawings in which like references indicatesimilar elements. The following drawings disclose various embodiments ofthe present invention for purposes of illustration only and are notintended to limit the scope of the invention. For purposes of clarity,not every component may be labeled in every figure. In the figures:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram a portion of an example wirelesscommunication network;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a portion of the communicationnetwork of FIG. 1 illustrating several adjacent wireless cells ingreater detail;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a process of implementing multiplesimultaneous wireless connections in a wireless local area network;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a wireless access pointaccording to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a wireless client according toan embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description sets forth numerous specific detailsto provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods,procedures, components, protocols, algorithms, and circuits have notbeen described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.

A method and apparatus for supporting multiple simultaneous wirelessconnections in a wireless local area network enables wireless clients toassociate with multiple wireless access points to increase datathroughput and to accelerate handoffs between the wireless accesspoints. According to an embodiment of the invention, a wireless clientis configured to associate simultaneously with multiple wireless accesspoints to enable fast handoffs to be performed and, optionally, toenable faster wireless service to be provided to the wireless clientfrom the multiple wireless access points. Information related to theconnections, sessions, and flows, may be exchanged between the wirelessaccess points so that upon handoff from one wireless access point to thesecond wireless access point, continuity may be maintained. Optionally,the simultaneous associations may be used to support multiple flows witheach of the several associated wireless access points to provideimproved and/or diversified services to the wireless client.

FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a communication network 10 in whichwireless access points 12 are interconnected in a mesh network topologyby wireless or wired links 14 (illustrated in dashed lines in FIG. 1). Amesh topology, as that term is used herein, enables many-to-oneconnectivity to provide a multiplicity of paths through the network.Mesh networks are advantageous in that they enable a given connection tobe carried on a number of distinct paths through the network instead ofrequiring the connection to be carried over one or a limited number ofpaths through the network. Although FIG. 1 illustrates an implementationof a communication network in which the wireless access points areinterconnected in a mesh network topology, the invention is not limitedto this embodiment as other network topologies may be used as well.

The wireless network 10 may be formed in any convenient fashion. In oneembodiment, the network may be formed as an ad-hoc network in whichextensive planning is not performed and wireless access points are addedas needed. Ad-hoc networks, especially in a mesh topology, areadvantageous in that less centralized administration is required toorganize and support the network. The network is not limited in thismanner, however, as other types of networks may be used as well. Thewireless access points may also be fixed or mobile, and the invention isnot limited to a network including fixed wireless access points.

At least some of the wireless access points 12 provide network access towireless clients 16 over wireless links 18 (illustrated in solid linesin FIG. 1) to enable the wireless clients to have access to a network20. The network 20 may be a public network such as the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN) or Internet. Alternatively, the network 18 maybe a corporate network, residential network, or other private network.The invention is not limited by the type of network 20 to which thewireless access points ultimately connect. Optionally, as illustrated inFIG. 2 below, a central office or other facility may interface thenetwork of wireless access points to the network 20.

The wireless access points in the network 10 may be configured tocommunicate between each other using one wireless technology and maycommunicate with wireless clients using another wireless technology.These wireless technologies may be distinguished by frequency orprotocol. Examples of several different wireless technologies that maybe used include one of the Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.11x wireless communication protocols (e.g. 802.11a,802.11b, or 802.11g), one of the IEEE 802.16x protocols, the UniversalMobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) wireless communications protocolor another cellular protocol, or an emerging or to be developedprotocols. The wireless technologies may also include microwave, freespace optics, and other types of communication technologies that do notrely on physical links (such as wires and optical fibers) for thetransmission of data.

Although in this application a wireless-based network will be described,and the nodes will be discussed as communicating with each other andwith end users using various wireless protocols, the invention is notlimited in this regard. Rather, the invention may be used more broadlywith other types of communication technology, such as microwave,infrared, acoustic, and numerous other types of wireless communicationtechnologies.

As shown in FIG. 1, a given wireless client 16 may be located in aregion of the network where it is possible for that wireless client tocommunicate with more than one wireless access point. In this instance,the wireless client may select one wireless access point, form a primaryassociation with that wireless access point, and obtain access to thenetwork 10/20 through that wireless access point. Optionally, accordingto another embodiment of the invention, the wireless client may formmultiple associations with several wireless access points and obtainaccess through one or more wireless access points simultaneously. Then,when signal characteristics change such that it is desirable to form aprimary affiliation with a different wireless access point, the multiplesimultaneous affiliations with adjacent wireless access points enablehandoffs between wireless access points to occur quickly and seamlessly.

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of the network 10 in which three adjacentwireless access points 12 are each configured to provide wirelessservice to a coverage area 14 referred to herein as a cell. Due to thenature of wireless communications networks, transmissions from adjacentwireless access points 12 commonly overlap each other (as indicated bythe dashed circles on FIG. 1) so that there is geographical coveragecontinuity between adjacent cells 22. While three adjacent cells havebeen shown in the illustrated portion of the network to help explain oneor more embodiments of the invention, a typical network would be likelyto include many more wireless access points providing service to manymore cells 22.

The wireless client 16 in FIG. 2 is illustrated as being in anoverlapping region between two or more adjacent wireless access points.Depending on the configuration of the network, the region of overlap maybe relatively small or relatively larger. Additionally, since thesignals from the wireless access points don't precisely stop propagatingat a particular defined boundary, but rather decay over distance, therelative intensity of the cells may switch over time. In the followingdiscussion, the “overlap regions” will be referred to as the areas wherethe wireless client would be able to communicate with more than onewireless access point. While the signal from one wireless access pointmay be much stronger than the signals from other wireless access pointsin the overlap region, and it may be natural for the wireless client toassociate with the wireless access point providing the signal withbetter characteristics, the wireless client will still be considered tobe in an overlap region where it is possible to also receive data oversignals from the other wireless access points.

The wireless access points 12 communicate with a central office 24 orother centralized source of data to enable voice conversations and datatransmissions to take place between the higher bandwidth services 20interfaced by the central office 24 and the wireless access points. Thecentral office may interface the Internet, Public Switched TelephoneNetwork (PSTN), or other communication network. Transmission between thecentral office 24 and the wireless access points 12 may take place overa passive optical network, a wireless network, or any other type ofnetwork in a conventional manner. The invention is not limited to anyparticular implementation of how the wireless access points and centraloffice are interconnected.

When an user is in an overlap region between two or more wireless accesspoints, it may be possible for the user to communicate with two or moreof the adjacent wireless access points 12. For example, assume thatwireless access point-A is the primary wireless access point for thewireless client illustrated in FIG. 2. In this example it may also bepossible for the wireless client to communicate with wireless accesspoint B or wireless access point C should wireless access point A becomeunavailable due to relative movement of the wireless client and wirelessaccess point A, or due to changing signal characteristics orenvironmental characteristics. Accordingly, the wireless client may berequired, at some point in time, to switch primary wireless access pointaffiliation and continue communicating on the wireless network throughwireless access point-B or wireless access point-C. Switching primarywireless access point affiliation will be referred to herein as ahandoff.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a wireless client may formmultiple affiliations with multiple wireless access points at the sametime so that hand-offs between wireless access points may take placequickly and seamlessly. FIG. 3 illustrates one example of a process thatmay be used to enable wireless clients to associate with multiplewireless access points to enable handoffs between the wireless accesspoints to happen more quickly. The process illustrated in FIG. 3 may beimplemented by network participants such as the wireless access points,wireless clients, and the central office, using appropriately configuredsoftware, hardware, firmware, or other implementations. Devicesconfigured to implement the embodiments of the invention are discussedin greater detail below in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, when a wireless client seeks to associate withmultiple wireless access points simultaneously, the wireless clientprobes the beacon messages issued by the wireless access points toselect a wireless access point as the primary wireless access point(30). Beacon messages are conventionally produced by wireless accesspoints to enable wireless clients to locate the wireless access pointson a wireless network. While in this embodiment there is one primarywireless access point, the wireless client may select differentprimaries for different types of communications or may in fact haveseveral primary wireless access points. As used herein, the term primarywireless access point will be used to refer to a wireless access pointthat is actively providing communication services to the wirelessclient, and the term secondary wireless access point will be used torefer to a wireless access point that has information relating to awireless client but is not currently actively providing communicationservices to the wireless client. For example, one wireless access pointmay be the primary wireless access point for voice communications withthe wireless client and another wireless access point may be the primarywireless access point for data communications with the wireless client.Thus, while the wireless client has selected one wireless access pointas its primary wireless access point in this example, the invention isnot limited in this manner.

The client then forms an association with the primary wireless accesspoint in a conventional manner (32). However, the wireless client, asnoted above, would like to associate with multiple wireless accesspoints simultaneously. Accordingly, the wireless client according to anembodiment of the invention continues to scan for beacon signals tolocate other wireless access points with which it may associate (34).The wireless client may select every beacon signal received or,optionally, may discern between received beacon signals and select apredetermined number of wireless access points in the vicinity or toselect only beacon signals having predetermined characteristics ascoming from eligible wireless access points.

Once the client has located one or more other wireless access pointswith which to associate, it begins a process of associating with theother wireless access points while maintaining its affiliation with theprimary wireless access point (36). Specifically, in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 3, the client notifies the primary wireless accesspoint of the identity of the other wireless access point(s) by appendingthe other wireless access point identification information to a modifiedversion of request-to-send (RTS) message, and sends that RTS message tothe primary wireless access point (38). Additionally, the wirelessclient notifies the second or other set of wireless access points of itsintention to form a secondary affiliation with them, for example bysending a RTS message to the secondary wireless access points andincluding in that RTS message identification information associated withthe primary wireless access point (40).

When the primary wireless access point receives the notification of thesecondary wireless access point(s), for example upon receipt of the RTSmessage with included secondary wireless access point identificationinformation (42), the primary wireless access point sends a handshakemessage to each of the other wireless access points (44). Similarly,when the secondary wireless access points receive the notification ofthe wireless client's intention to form a secondary affiliation (46)they will send a handshake message to the primary wireless access point(48).

The order of generation of the handshake messages may be configured in anumber of different ways. For example, the primary wireless access pointmay be configured to initiate a protocol exchange with the secondarywireless access point(s) by generating the first handshake message.Alternatively the secondary wireless access points may be configured toinitiate a protocol exchange with the primary wireless access point bygenerating the first handshake message. Still alternatively, thewireless access points may all be configured to generate handshakemessages as soon as they are informed of the wireless client's intentionto form a secondary affiliation without regard as to which wirelessaccess point is to be considered the primary and which is to beconsidered the secondary wireless access point. The invention is notlimited by the particular order of generation of handshake messages inthe protocol exchange.

The handshake messages serve to exchange identification information,state information associated with flows addressed to the wireless clientor on which the wireless client is participating, and other informationthat may be required to be exchanged between wireless access points inan ordinary handoff between wireless access points. The handshakemessages may also be used to coordinate between the wireless accesspoints when more than one wireless access point is to be considered aprimary wireless access point for that wireless client. According to oneembodiment of the invention, the information is exchanged between thewireless access points using an extension to a conventional protocolsuch as Inter Access Point Protocol (IAPP), a protocol that is specifiedto be used to perform hand-offs in the 802.11x wireless communicationspace. The invention is not limited to using IAPP or a derivative ofIAPP, however, as other protocols such as Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)or Inter-Switch Trunk Protocol (IST), or other existing or to bedeveloped protocols, may be used to exchange this information as well.

Once the appropriate information has been exchanged between the wirelessaccess points, the wireless access points will notify the wirelessclient that the secondary affiliation(s) or additional primaryaffiliation(s) have been successfully established. This may be done in anumber of ways. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, this isaccomplished by the primary wireless access point sending aClear-To-Send (CTS) message to the wireless client (50) and by havingthe other wireless access points send CTS messages to the wirelessclient (52). Receipt of a CTS message from a wireless access point isgenerally interpreted by the wireless client that the wireless client isable to communicate through that wireless access point and directcommunications to that wireless access point. The CTS messages mayidentify channel information to be used for communications with thatwireless access point, and optionally identify other information such asencryption information to be used on the channel. Other additionalinformation may be included as well and the invention is not limited bythe type of information contained in the CTS message. Where theattempted affiliation does not succeed, this information may becommunicated to the wireless client as well.

Receipt by the wireless client of multiple CTS messages from multiplewireless access points thus provides the wireless client with theability to direct communications to either of the several wirelessaccess points or multiple wireless access points simultaneously.Specifically, the wireless client has formed an affiliation with two ormore wireless access points, and each of the wireless access points hasobtained flow information associated with the communication sessionsassociated with the wireless access point and network level informationsufficient to enable it to participate and host communications with thewireless client.

Thus, the wireless client may select one of the wireless access pointsand send data to that wireless access point (54). It is immaterialwhether that wireless access point is the primary wireless access pointor the secondary wireless access point since both wireless access pointsare equally capable of handling communications to the wireless client.However, where one of the wireless access points such as the primarywireless access point is designated as the care-of address forcommunications directed toward the wireless client, it may be preferablefor the wireless client to continue to select the primary wirelessaccess point preferentially, although the invention is not limited tothis embodiment.

When it becomes more desirable to pass communications through asecondary wireless access point so that the current secondary wirelessaccess point is to become a primary wireless access point, a handoff isrequired and communications with the wireless client should be handledby another wireless access point. Accordingly, upon determination by thewireless access point or the wireless client that handoff is desirable(56) the client begins sending data to one of the wireless access pointswith which a secondary affiliation has been established (58). Where theprimary wireless access point determines that the signal characteristicsare unacceptable, the wireless access point may instruct the wirelessclient to seek to switch the primary association to another of thewireless access points. Where the wireless client is the participantthat determines that a handoff is required, the wireless client may seekto switch the primary association to another of the wireless accesspoints. In either instance, the wireless client begins to send data tothe new primary wireless access point (58) whereupon the new primarywireless access point will handle all or a designated aspectcommunications for the wireless client.

At the network level, there are many possible ways of providing multipleroutes through the network to the wireless client that may allow thesimultaneous association of the wireless client through differentwireless access points. For example, optionally multiple paths throughthe network or a virtual routing group may be used to accommodate themultiple associations with multiple wireless access points. Theinvention is thus not limited to a particular way of handling themultiple associations and, hence, potential multiple routes through thenetwork to the wireless client at the network level. One possibleconventional approach for handling address management in a wirelessnetwork is commonly referred to as Mobile IP. Mobile IP generally routesinformation through a network by addressing the information for a mobileclient to a care-of address.

Where a single care-of address affiliation is required to be maintainedwith the central office or other network construct on the public network20, the new primary wireless access point may register itself as the newcare-of address with the home address to enable it to receivedcommunications directed toward the wireless client. Optionally, wherethe wireless access points are connected in a mesh networkconfiguration, for example as illustrated in the network shown in FIG.1, the old primary wireless access point may serve as the care-ofaddress until the home address is able to be updated or notified of thehandoff between the wireless access points, or until the new primarywireless access point moves beyond the range of the primary wirelessaccess point.

Numerous other schemes may be used to manage the multiple associationson the network as well, whether the multiple access points are in thesame subnet or different subnets. For example, in an other embodiment,the wireless client may obtain two or more IP addresses, one of whichmay be associated with the primary wireless access point channel and theother of which may be associated with the secondary access pointchannel. This solution may work particularly well where the two accesspoints are not on the same subnet. When the wireless client changesassociations between the two access points, the client may mark the IPaddress associated with the secondary access point as the primary IPaddress. Whenever the wireless client moves to another subnet orassociates with a wireless access point on a new subnet, it may access aDynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) server to obtain a new secondary IPaddress on the new subnet. By maintaining multiple IP addresses on thedifferent subnets communications may be transferred from one accesspoint to the new access point simply by changing the IP addresses.Another scheme would be simply let the IP address always correspond tothe primary wireless access point at the point of association.Accordingly, there are multiple processes that may be used toaccommodate simultaneous adjacencies with multiple wireless accesspoints at the network level and the invention is not limited to anyparticular embodiment.

Upon handoff, or at any other stage of the process, the wireless clientmay seek to make new affiliations with other adjacent wireless accesspoints. By continuously trying to establish new affiliations withneighboring wireless access points until reaches it's full capacity(i.e. until the wireless client is not able to form additionalaffiliations), the wireless client may maintain a set of wireless accesspoint affiliations from which to choose should it become desirable toperform a handoff from one wireless access point to another wirelessaccess point or to have more than one primary wireless access point.According to embodiments of the invention, the simultaneous multipleaffiliations may accelerate handoffs between wireless access points bypre-sharing state, flow, and other information between the wirelessaccess points and by enabling the wireless access points to establishnetwork level connectivity on behalf of the wireless client, should thewireless client perform a handoff or seek to simultaneously communicatewith more than one of the wireless access points.

During synchronization process, the several wireless access points mayexchange several types of information. For example, the wireless accesspoints may exchange virtual switching group ID(s) where virtualswitching groups are being used. In this embodiment, a virtual switchinggroup is formed based on the wireless access points which are servingthe wireless client at any given time. The Virtual Switching Group ID isdynamically created and can be reused by other client if no conflictsdetected. Each virtual switching group ID is associated with a multicastaddress. Other virtual associations may be created between the severalwireless access points as well and the invention is not limited to anembodiment that implements virtual switching groups in precisely thismanner. Additionally, the wireless access points may also exchangeinformation from their Forwarding DataBase (FDB) related to the wirelessclient. The FDB is generally stored at each wireless access point fromthe perspective of the specific wireless client. A copy of the primaryparty's FDB is queued at the cache when updating for that particularwireless client is necessary. Similarly, the wireless access points mayexchange authentication information which may be used to speed up there-authentication process. Other types of information may be exchangedas well and the invention is not limited to exchanging only theseseveral discussed pieces of information.

As discussed above, the wireless client may communicate with multiplewireless access points simultaneously, for example by using one of thewireless access points as the primary wireless access point for acertain type of communication and another of the wireless access pointsas the primary wireless access point for another type of communication.The particular access point for a given data flow may be selected basedon a number of different criteria, including the source/destinationaddress, bandwidth, proximity to destination, and numerous otherfactors. Additionally, the wireless access points may cooperativelytransmit information to the wireless client to enable enhanced datarates to be provided to the wireless client. For example, assume that agiven wireless client has requested a large data file. By splitting thefile into two separate pieces and transmitting half of the file fromeach wireless access point to the wireless client, the wireless clientmay receive the data twice as fast. The invention is not limited to thisparticular example as other mechanisms of simultaneously communicatingmay additionally be possible.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a given wireless client mayassociate with one primary (active transmitting) wireless access pointand multiple secondary (standby) wireless access points, or mayassociate with multiple primary wireless access points and zero, one, ormultiple secondary wireless access points. The invention is not limitedto any particular number of each of the types of wireless access pointsto which associations may be formed.

FIG. 4, illustrates a wireless access point 12 according to anembodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the wireless accesspoint 12 generally includes a processor 70 containing control logic 72configured to perform functions described above to enable the wirelessaccess point to host communications with wireless clients on thewireless network. The processor may interface handoff software 74configured to enable the wireless access point to be affiliated withwireless clients, wireless client state tables 76 containing informationassociated with communication sessions for particular wireless clients.Additionally, when the wireless access point is configured to makerouting decisions on the network, the wireless access point may alsoinclude routing software 78 and routing tables 80 containing routinginformation to enable the wireless access point to route protocol dataunits on the network. Other software subsystems may be included as welland the invention is not limited to an embodiment including only theseseveral subsystems. Where dedicated hardware or firmware is used toimplement the functionality described above, dedicated circuits such asASICs or FPGAs may be used in place of the software modules.

The wireless access point 12 includes wireless antennae 82 configured toenable the wireless access point to communicate with the wirelessclients using one or more wireless protocols. Additionally, where thewireless access points are configured to communicate with each otherusing a wireless protocol, the wireless access point may include one ormore additional wireless antennae configured to communicate with theother wireless access points. Optionally, one or more wireline ports 84may also be provided to enable the wireless access point to be connectedto a wired network.

A switch fabric 86 under the control of the processor 70, may beprovided to interconnect the ports and antennae and direct packetsbetween these several interfaces. The switch fabric may be supported bya packet queue 88 configured to store packets or other protocol dataunits temporarily pending transmission over an appropriate interface.

The wireless access point may be provided with one or more components(hardware and/or software) to enable it to communicate more effectivelyon the communication network. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4,the wireless access point includes a protocol stack 90 containing dataand instructions configured to enable the wireless access point toparticipate in protocol exchanges on the network. The wireless accesspoint may also include a security module 92 containing an authenticationmodule 94 configured to authenticate users, devices, or connections onthe network, an authorization module 96 configured to determineappropriate authorization control information to prevent unauthorizedaccess to the network, and an accounting module 98 configured to enableaccounting entries to be established for communication sessions on thenetwork. Other modules may be included as well and the invention is notlimited to a particular implementation of the network device. Theinvention is thus not limited to a wireless access point having thisparticular selection of functional modules as other modules may beemployed as well.

FIG. 5 illustrates a wireless access device that may function as awireless client on the network 10 described above in connection withFIGS. 1-3 and interact with the wireless access point described above inconnection with FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 5, the access device 16includes a processor 100 containing control logic 102 configured toenable it to implement the functions described above so that it iscapable of establishing multiple simultaneous adjacencies on the network10.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the wireless access device 16includes software modules configured to enable it to form affiliationswith two or more adjacent wireless access points. For example, thewireless access device 16 may include a protocol stack 104 containingdata and instructions to enable the wireless client to engage inprotocol exchanges on the network. Additionally, simultaneous adjacencysoftware 106 may be included to enable the wireless client to performthe functions ascribed to the wireless client in the description setforth above with respect to FIG. 3. Optionally, the simultaneousadjacency software 106 may be subsumed into the protocol stack or mergedwith the protocol stack so that a single piece of software or a singlesoftware module may be provided to govern how the wireless clientbehaves on the wireless network and how the wireless client performshandoffs on the wireless network. The invention is not limited by themanner in which the wireless client is configured to implement thefunctionality ascribed to it as set forth above.

Optionally, the wireless client may also include several other modulesconfigured to enable it to have increased functionality and otherwiseinteract with the wireless access points. For example, the wirelessclient may include a packet queue 108 configured to store protocol dataunits for transmission onto the network and/or that have been receivedfrom the network. A security module 110 may also be provided to enablethe wireless client to authenticate itself on the network, establish itsauthorization information to communicate on the network, and allowaccounting information to be provided on the network. Other or differentmodules may be used as well and the invention is not limited to anembodiment that includes this particular selection of components.

The functions described above may be implemented as a set of programinstructions that are stored in a computer readable memory within thenetwork element and executed on one or more processors within thenetwork element. However, it will be apparent to a skilled artisan thatall logic described herein can be embodied using discrete components,integrated circuitry such as an Application Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC), programmable logic used in conjunction with a programmable logicdevice such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or microprocessor,a state machine, or any other device including any combination thereof.Programmable logic can be fixed temporarily or permanently in a tangiblemedium such as a read-only memory chip, a computer memory, a disk, orother storage medium. Programmable logic can also be fixed in a computerdata signal embodied in a carrier wave, allowing the programmable logicto be transmitted over an interface such as a computer bus orcommunication network. All such embodiments are intended to fall withinthe scope of the present invention.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications of theembodiments shown in the drawings and described in the specification maybe made within the spirit and scope of the present invention.Accordingly, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription and shown in the accompanying drawings be interpreted in anillustrative and not in a limiting sense. The invention is limited onlyas defined in the following claims and the equivalents thereto.

1. A method of forming multiple simultaneous wireless connections by awireless client in a wireless local area network, the method comprisingthe steps of: obtaining a primary affiliation with a first wirelessaccess point; maintaining the primary affiliation with the firstwireless access point while locating a second wireless access point;engaging the second wireless access points to form a second affiliationwith the second wireless access point while maintaining the primaryaffiliation with the first wireless access point.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein the second affiliation is a primary affiliation.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the second affiliation is a secondaryaffiliation.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of locatingadjacent access wireless access points comprises scanning beacon signalsfrom other wireless access points.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thestep of obtaining a primary affiliation with the first wireless accesspoint comprises generating a first request to send message and sendingthe first request to send message to the first wireless access point. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein the step of engaging the second wirelessaccess point comprises generating a second request to send message andsending the second request to send message to the first wireless accesspoint.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second request to sendmessage includes identification information about the second wirelessaccess point.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of engaging thesecond wireless access point comprises generating a second request tosend message and sending the second request to send message to thesecond wireless access point.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein thesecond request to send message includes identification information aboutthe first wireless access point.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising receiving first data from the first wireless access point andreceiving second data from the second wireless access point.
 11. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the second data is received before receiptof the first data has completed.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein thewireless client has a first IP address associated with the firstaffiliation and a second IP address associated with the secondaffiliation.
 13. A method of sharing wireless client information betweenwireless access points in a wireless communication network, the methodcomprising the steps of: receiving by a first wireless access point afirst message from a wireless client indicating that the first wirelessaccess point is to host a communication session for the wireless client;and receiving by the first wireless access point a second messageindicating that another wireless access point is to receive informationabout the communication session for the wireless client; transmittingthe information about the communication sessions for the wirelessclient; and continuing to host the communication session for thewireless client.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the second messageis received from the wireless client.
 15. The method of claim 13,wherein the second message is a request to send message containingidentification information of another wireless access point on thenetwork.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of transmittingthe information about the communication sessions for the wireless clientcomprises transmitting information sufficient to perform a handoff tothe second wireless access point.
 17. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising coordinating with the second wireless access point tocooperatively share responsibility for communicating data to thewireless client.
 18. The method of claim 13 further comprising the stepof sending a synchronization message to the second wireless access pointto form a dynamic switching group.
 19. The method of claim 18, whereinthe dynamic switching group is a virtual switching group, said virtualswitching group comprising a multicast group in which entities of thegroup are configured to serve the wireless client.
 20. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the dynamic switching group comprises at least thefirst wireless access point and the second wireless access point, andwherein each wireless access point in the dynamic switching group isconfigured to exchange information regarding the wireless client withother wireless access points in the dynamic switching group.
 21. Themethod of claim 19, further comprising the steps of releasing thevirtual switching group and reusing the virtual switching group withother wireless clients, when at least one of the wireless access pointsin the virtual switching group is no longer serving the wireless client.22. A wireless access point, comprising: an antenna configured tocommunicate using a wireless protocol with a wireless client; aprocessor connected to the antenna and configured to controlcommunications over the antenna; control logic associated with theprocessor and configured to enable the wireless access point to sharecommunication information about the wireless client with anotherwireless access point while maintaining communications with the wirelessclient over the antenna.
 23. A wireless access point, comprising: meansfor communicating with wireless clients over a wireless interface; meansfor sharing communication information associated with the wirelessclient with another wireless access point while maintainingcommunications with the wireless client over the means forcommunicating.